Contingent negative variation and cognitive performance in hypotension

The difference in attention and cognitive performance between 26 hypotensive (systolic blood pressure < 100 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure < 60 mmHg) and 22 normotensive female university students was assessed. Attention was examined with contingent negative variation (CNV) recorded using light and tone as S1 and S2. Cognitive performance was assessed by free recall of a list of words and two German tests of cognitive speed performance and sustained attention: Zahlen-Verbindungs-Test and d2. The hypotensive participants demonstrated a lower increase in negativity on the CNV. Moreover, in the free recall test, hypotensive individuals remembered fewer words, in comparison with normotensive subjects. Scores for hypotensive individuals on the Zahlen-Verbindungs-Test and d2 were also lower. No difference was found in reaction times to imperative stimuli (S2).